


Healing

by Ksue



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6686275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ksue/pseuds/Ksue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose needs her mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing

**Author's Note:**

> This assumes that Rose did not lose her grip on the lever during Doomsday.
> 
> This was written for timepetalsprompts over on Tumblr. Prompt: Back In Time

The Doctor hunched over the console with his eyes squeezed shut, trying to forget the screams echoing in his head, the smell of charred flesh lingering in his nose. He set the TARDIS to drift in the Vortex, needing a moment to pull himself together before he continued running as he always did. The horrors of Uhlanga 3 would not release him. 

Shoes scuffed against the grating near the door and the Doctor turned to Rose. Her eyes were bloodshot, tears still streaming down her face, streaking her mascara. He opened his arms and she flew into them, pressing herself against him and burying her face in his chest as she sobbed. 

“I’m sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry,” he whispered, pressing a hard kiss to her hair. She clenched her hands against his back, bunching his shirt between her fingers. 

They hadn’t even managed to save one person. They had tried. Rassilon they had tried, but the Doctor had seen the timelines, he and Rose either died with the Uhlangas or they survived without saving anyone. There was no other outcome. Somehow, that knowledge did nothing to soothe him. 

“I…want…my…mum,” Rose gasped between her cries. The Doctor felt his hearts shatter and held her tighter. 

“Rose…”

“Please, Doctor!” she wailed. She pulled back to stare at him, her eyes begging through the glisten of tears. It had been years since Canary Warf, years since Jackie went to Pete’s World, and Rose had never once asked for her mum. The Doctor knew she missed Jackie, of course, and she never tried to hide it when she did, but Rose had never asked for her.

“It’s, Rose…” 

She pushed away from him, anger burning in her eyes. 

“What good is being a Lord of Time if you won’t use it!” she shouted as she spun on her heel and fled down the corridor. The Doctor sighed, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. They burned with tears. He hated to see Rose so upset. He’d do anything for her, she knew that, but this…there was significant risk of a paradox, not to mention significant risk that it would hurt more than it helped. 

He turned to the console, determined to find a way. 

#

A few hours later, the Doctor had pinpointed a time that they could go back to with minimal paradox risk, assuming that they were careful, and that everyone understood the rules. He knocked on their bedroom door, hoping Rose wasn’t too angry to listen to him. 

The door swung open, the TARDIS flaring a warning to tread carefully. Rose was curled in the middle of their bed, her back to the door. The Doctor went to the far side, dropping to his knees before Rose and taking her hands in his, pressing a kiss to her fingers. 

“I found a spot we can slip into,” he said quietly. Rose just sniffled and waited, knowing there must be more. “It’s during our time on Krop Tor when we weren’t in contact with Jackie for several days. But Rose…she won’t know that you’ve lost her and you can’t tell her. She’ll know you’re from the future, it’s obvious, but you can’t tell her how far in the future or why you’re visiting her past self…”

“I know, Doctor. We’ve been at this for years now, I know the rules. It won’t be like…” She doesn’t need to finish the sentence, they’re both thinking of Pete and the church and him being eaten by reapers. 

“I just worry,” the Doctor whispered. Rose lifted a hand to brush her fingers across his forehead. He turned into her touch. 

“I know. Thank you, Doctor.” She lifted herself on an elbow so that she could press a kiss to his lips. He kissed her back only for a moment before he pulled away. 

“We should go soon,” he said. Rose climbed to her feet and wiped her eyes. 

#

The Doctor landed the TARDIS right in the middle of Jackie’s flat. They couldn’t park around the corner like they usually did and risk someone seeing them, the less contact they had with anyone, the better. He looked much the same, but Rose’s hair was longer and a few shades darker, her face a bit more angular, and there was years more experience in her eyes. There would be no mistaking that she was older than the Rose that belonged here. 

Rose waited at the console. They’d agreed he would go out first and prepare Jackie, lay the ground work. He’d have to talk fast, Rose was trembling with need of her mother and he didn’t think she’d be able to hold back for long. 

“You get that ship out of the middle of my flat!” Jackie shouted the moment he cracked the door open. He slipped into the flat, pulling the door closed behind him.

“Jackie.” There must have been something in his voice, because Jackie turned to him with fear in her eyes, all playful nagging gone. 

“What’s happened?” she asked. 

“Rose is fine,” the Doctor assured her. “Well, physically she’s fine. Emotionally…she needs her mother.”

“Well then where is she?” Jackie made a break for the TARDIS, but the Doctor stepped in front of her, a gentle hand on her arm. 

“Hold on, Jackie. I need to…we’re from your future.”

Jackie stumbled back, her eyes wide. 

“I had to come out first and explain things, because you’ll know when you see Rose. She’s seven years, six months, and thirteen days older than when you last saw her. She knows your future, Jackie, and you can’t ask her anything about it. You can’t ask why we’re here in the past instead of our own personal timeline, you can’t ask what’s happened to her in between, and you can’t ask anything about your own future. Do you understand?”

Jackie nodded, her mouth hanging open a bit. Then she took a shuddering breath. “Am I dead?”

The Doctor fought the urge to roll his eyes. He’d just explained…but at least she was asking him and not Rose. 

“No. You are very much alive, Jackie Tyler.”

Jackie nodded, like that was all she needed to know. The Doctor pushed the door open and Rose came barreling out, straight into her mother’s arms. 

The Doctor made tea while Rose sobbed in Jackie’s embrace. Jackie held her tight and stroked her hair, he could see her marvel at the new color a bit, and made soothing sounds in Rose’s ear. Finally the tears slowed and Rose sat back.

“Thanks mum,” she said, her voice hoarse. 

“Of course, love. Does himself need a slap? Is he the reason you’re upset?”

“Jackie,” the Doctor warned. Rose gave a watery laugh and sipped at her tea. 

“No, mum, it’s not his fault. He’s wonderful.” Rose caught his eye, her gaze so full of thanks and love that he felt his hearts mending. He smiled back at her. 

“Oh, so you two are actually properly together now, I see,” Jackie said. The Doctor opened his mouth to object, to hide any part of the future from her, but then sighed and waved a hand. There was no use denying it. 

“Are you taking care of her? Keeping her safe?” Jackie demanded to know.

“With all that I have,” he promised. Jackie nodded.

They sat with Jackie for a little while longer, talking around the future, keeping the conversation safe. Rose was cuddled into Jackie’s side all the while, and the Doctor could see her healing, her mother’s love and attention like a balm to her soul. There were some roles he just couldn’t fill, and he wished for the billionth time that there had been a way to retrieve Jackie before the walls closed. 

Finally the timer in his mind had counted down. Past Rose would be calling soon, having escaped the Beast and Krop Tor. They wouldn’t visit for several more days, but the Doctor didn’t want to strain the timelines any more than absolutely necessary. 

“Rose,” he said quietly. “It’s time.”

Rose nodded, standing from the couch. “Mum, we’ve got to go. The longer we stay the riskier it is.”

“Oh Rose,” Jackie said, cupping Rose’s face in her hands. 

“You can’t tell younger me anything about this visit, okay? You can’t tell anyone,” Rose insisted. Jackie nodded. 

“I’ll see you soon, all right?” Jackie promised. Rose nodded, and the Doctor’s heart sank. Technically the words were true, Jackie would see Rose again very soon. But his Rose would never see Jackie again. 

Rose threw her arms around Jackie’s shoulders and hugged her tight, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears. They held each other for a long moment before Rose disentangled herself and kissed Jackie’s cheek. 

“Love you, mum.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

The Doctor set the dematerialization sequence as Rose sank into the jump seat. Once they were safely in the vortex, he sat beside her, tugging her legs into his lap and hugging her tightly. 

“Thank you,” she breathed into his neck.

“Did it help?” That was all that mattered to him, really. 

“It did.” Rose leaned back to kiss him, a soft, languid press of their lips. “I love you, Doctor.”

“I love you, Rose Tyler.”


End file.
